MA Adds 3 Plants To List Of Banned Invasive Species

MASSACHUSETTS — The state Department of Agricultural Resource recently added three new plants to a list of banned species, which means nurseries soon have to stop selling them.

After a public hearing in July, DAR in November added scotch broom, weeping lovegrass and Japanese black pine to the "prohibited plants list." Each plant is considered invasive in New England, posing a threat to native species.

It will still be a few years before the plants disappear completely from store shelves. Nurseries have until December 2025 to phase out Japanese black pine, Dec. 31 2024 to phase out scotch broom and Dec. 31 to phase out weeping lovegrass.

The last additions to the prohibited list were made in 2017, when flowering rush, large gray willow and rusty willow were banned.

Scotch broom, native to Europe, has been identified as a threat to forests because it crowds out native trees attempting to grow in cleared areas. Weeping lovegrass, native to southern Africa, is very drought resistant and often used for erosion control, but can also crowd native species.